Vietnam among 9 Southeast Asian Countries with Highest Rates of Hepatitis: WHO

Vietnam is one of the nine countries in the Southeast Asia having the highest rate of hepatitis, with 10% of the country’s 90-million population having hepatitis B and between 2%-6% having hepatitis C, according to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) at a meeting held yesterday in Hanoi to mark the World Hepatitis Day on July 28. The figures mean that over 20 million Vietnamese people are infected with hepatitis B and C, also abbreviated as HBV and HCV, respectively, which are major causes of liver cancer and cirrhosis. Vietnam has another eight million people are living with hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, which causes 22,000 deaths a year, the WHO added. Data from the Preventive Health Department under the Ministry of Health (MOH) showed that 8%-25%% of people in certain population groups in Vietnam have HBV and some 2.5%-4.1% of such population groups test positive for HCV. At the meeting, the MOH announced a plan on viral hepatitis prevention for the 2015-2019 period to reduce the spread of hepatitis viruses and improve community access to screening, treatment and care services. According to WHO estimates, about two billion people worldwide are infected with the HBV and around 130 million – 150 million people were chronically infected with HCV in 2014. About one million people die every year as a result of the viral disease, or 2.7% of all fatalities globally. Since 1997, Vietnam has added vaccine for HBV in its expanded program of immunization in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The program has reached a vaccination coverage rate of over 90% for Vietnamese children since 2003. The vaccine has been applied to newborns within the first 24 hours after birth since 2006. Pregnant women are also encouraged to be screened for hepatitis to prevent mother-to-child transmissions. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te – Economic Times July 28 p2, Saigon-gpdaily.com.vn July 26)